The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Steve46

I just watched this again. It must be a Christmas tradition. I cried my eyes out of course.

I love Setsuko like she is my own daughter.

5/5

That movie cant be explained with words.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

When I first saw all this "Jingle All the Way" walk, I immediately thought of this...

Austrian Death Machine - Who Told You You Could Eat My Cookies - YouTube

Cookie Metal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Steve46

I just watched this again. It must be a Christmas tradition. I cried my eyes out of course.

I love Setsuko like she is my own daughter.

5/5

Dude that is depressing. On Christmas?

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

Dude that is depressing. On Christmas?

Yep.

Football and pizza tonight though.

I just ordered Arrietty and Whisper of the Heart from the UK.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Midnight in Paris (blu)

PQ: 4.5 (out of 5)

AQ: 4 (out of 5)

Film: 4 stars (out of 4)

[Show spoiler]
Bearcat, I'd suggest going to Paris or reading up about Paris in the 20s to understand what the appeal is. Without either, I still think the film is virtually impossible to dislike. It's utterly charming and is about much more than the beauty and appeal of Paris. I was fortunate enough to take a solo trip there last year and I visited and stood in many of the places shown in the film. I also am very well-educated about Paris in the 20s, having co-taught a class on autiobiography, which used Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast" (his memoir about Paris in the 20s) and Gertrude Stein's "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas" as its cornerstones. In many ways, this film was tailormade for someone like me. I found it to be beautifully photographed, despite the perceived ease of doing so with a setting like Paris. I found the dialogue to be classic Woody Allen--intelligent and witty, even if not uproarious. I thought the acting was very solid and that Owen Wilson was a perfect avatar for Allen. I also really loved the small bit parts, which were all the more enjoyable with the knowledge of the famed characters' personality. How Hemingway speaks in a way that echoes his prose, for instance. For me, Adrien Brody's small part as Salvador Dali was the best. I also liked Owen Wilson's suggestion of a movie plot to Luis Bunuel, for his 60s film "The Exterminating Angel."

Overall, I thought this was a magical film and I rate it as the second best film of the year that I've seen so far (The Tree of Life being first and Warrior being third). I loved everything about it.

Such a great flick. Dali was one of my favorite parts as well. I realized that Woody Allen has a knack for giving famous cities a fresh and inviting feel (e.g. Barcelona). I saw this on a first date, and let me tell you, it was the perfect date movie. (She's an art history major and we discussed it to no end)

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Steve46

Yep.

Football and pizza tonight though.

I just ordered Arrietty and Whisper of the Heart from the UK.

[Show spoiler]For me?

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

[Show spoiler]For me?

Hehe, no, sorry. Do you have Region B capability? I have a spare Nausicaa from the UK.

EDIT: I see you already have it.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Steve46

Hehe, no, sorry. Do you have Region B capability? I have a spare Nausicaa from the UK.

EDIT: I see you already have it.

Thank you though!

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

When I first saw all this "Jingle All the Way" talk, I immediately thought of this...

Austrian Death Machine - Who Told You You Could Eat My Cookies - YouTube

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Cookie Metal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In case any of you guys have been living under a rock the last week or so...the new Apes movie is $14.99 at Best Buy this week (Amazon also).
I nabbed the last copy at my store (See what I did there with the smiley?)

[Diesel]

Watched my copy, the review and my belief that this movie has THE movie moment of the year stands:

Originally Posted by Diesel

Rise of the Apes

Still calling it by the name before they changed it


I've only had knowledge about this film for a little over a month...maybe a month and a half as I may have seen the trailer with Green Lantern. I don't really remember. Either way, I haven't had interest in it very long, but when I first saw that trailer I thought, "I'm there!"

I had some moderately high expectations because the trailer made it look quite good. I would have been really let down if it was anything less than a 4/5 after I saw it.

I was not let down.

If you thought the trailer for this looked really good, the movie is even better.


The story follows a young scientist named Will (James Franco) early on but this film is not about him, it is about his friend (not pet) Caesar. Caesar is a remarkably advanced chimpanzee who lives with Will and his father. I won't go farther than that, go see the movie to find out where the story goes after that

It's got mixtures of , , and throughout.

The pacing of the film was very good and it did a lot with its sub-two hour run time. My theme this year has been "I wish it was longer..." and I can say that a little bit for this one as well. I don't want another 15-20 minutes, maybe another 5 or so.

I wish the part from the trailer where

[Show spoiler]Franco tells Caesar, "Never let them find you..." was still in the film and we didn't get to see Caesar finding the female chimp that we were shown briefly in the cage that was then empty during Caesar's break out. They included him stopping to look at the tag and figuring out where she went and we saw them break into there, but we didn't see them together ever in the film. It would have given us an even deeper connection to Caesar's story and his mission.

But those are just some small "complaints" and I'm sure we'll see them in the deleted scenes.

There was actually a part or two where a few people in my audience clapped.
Then there was the kicker:

[Show spoiler]Caesar shouting NO!!! to Felton's character!

YOWZA!!!
There was a collective gasp when it happened.


The acting for the human characters is good enough, though Franco has a pretty terrible narration part that he sounded very strange/unnatural in. There's nothing really that significant for them to sink their teeth into, but that's fine. It allows the real star to shine with the largest amount of screen time.

Andy Serkis is fantastic as Caeser. Such powerful emotion delivered through a silent performance. I really hope he finally gets some real recognition for his performance that he didn't receive for Gollum...or even Kong. For anyone who is still clinging to the "mocap is not acting" bull, watch the behind the scenes videos of his performance. That's ALL him in this role. Wonderful, wonderful performance.


The effects were pretty good throughout and at times astonishing. There are many times where the apes look very CGI, but there are other times where you would have to look twice to be sure they aren't real. The final effects in the film were definitely better than they were in the trailer.


See this movie, I highly recommend it to any action/sci-fi fan.
It was not my favorite movie of the year, but I did love it.


Rating - 4.5/5

[jhiggy23]

Leon Morin, Priest (Criterion blu)

PQ and AQ: 4 (out of 5)

Film: 3 1/2 stars (out of 4)


Slow, but great film. The film consists almost entirely of dialogue, much of which is religiously driven, although thematically the film goes beyond mere religion and delves more into existence. The film has a lot of replay value to me because of the thoughtfulness of the dialogue. This is my fourth Melville film and he has yet to earn a score of less than 3 1/2 stars.


__________________________________________________ _____

Orpheus (Criterion blu)

PQ: 4 1/2 (out of 5)

AQ: 4 (out of 5)

Film: 3 1/2 stars (out of 4)

A lot of replay value on this one. The directing, effects, set design, and cinematograpy are absolutely incredible. It's easy to see why this 1950 film has such a huge influence on later films. In college I was an English major who focused on mythology as it relates to early Renaissance literature. Since this film deals with the Orphic myth in a contemporary (for the time) setting, I was particularly intrigued. I thought the use of mirrors and reflections was incredible here. I also absolutely loved the set design of the underworld, which was the ruins of a military college at Saint Cyr, I believe. The main character, Orpheus, was unlikeable here. The fact that I liked the movie as much as I did despite this says a lot. I'm looking forward to watching this film again, especially to see the last 15 minutes, which is pure directing bliss.

[Pondosinatra]

Live Free or Die Hard

Director: Len Wiseman

Main Stars: Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, Maggie Q, Kevin Smith

Rating: 4 out of 5

John McClane (Willis) is back. This time a routine request to pick up a low level hacker (Long) for questioning turns into a life and death struggle with the wealth of the nation at stake. Can he keep themselves alive long enough to find out who is responsible for the chaos being inflicted upon the entire Eastern seaboard? I generally hate sequels and I abhor film franchises. They all follow a predictable pattern. The first one is great and makes a bunch of money so they trot out sequel after sequel with each new one a little worse than the last. Occasionally however one film will manage to stand out and approach the greatness of the original. This is the case here. The fourth entry in the Die Hard series is easily the best since the first one. The dynamic between Long and Willis is enjoyable without degenerating into the cliché cop buddy situation. Despite getting a bit long in the tooth, Willis still manages to kick ass. And while I tend to roll my eyes at hacker based movies I found myself able to accept the high tech wizardry in this case. Even more so as the situations are somewhat based on past and present events. Finally, we get to see Kevin Smith in a film where he's not doing his Silent Bob shtick. Great mindless fun.

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by Pondosinatra

Live Free or Die Hard

Director: Len Wiseman

Main Stars: Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant, Maggie Q, Kevin Smith

Rating: 4 out of 5

John McClane (Willis) is back. This time a routine request to pick up a low level hacker (Long) for questioning turns into a life and death struggle with the wealth of the nation at stake. Can he keep themselves alive long enough to find out who is responsible for the chaos being inflicted upon the entire Eastern seaboard? I generally hate sequels and I abhor film franchises. They all follow a predictable pattern. The first one is great and makes a bunch of money so they trot out sequel after sequel with each new one a little worse than the last. Occasionally however one film will manage to stand out and approach the greatness of the original. This is the case here. The fourth entry in the Die Hard series is easily the best since the first one. The dynamic between Long and Willis is enjoyable without degenerating into the cliché cop buddy situation. Despite getting a bit long in the tooth, Willis still manages to kick ass. And while I tend to roll my eyes at hacker based movies I found myself able to accept the high tech wizardry in this case. Even more so as the situations are somewhat based on past and present events. Finally, we get to see Kevin Smith in a film where he's not doing his Silent Bob shtick. Great mindless fun.

All four of the Die Hard movies entertain me. This is the most unbelievable of the lot, but who cares? As you say, great mindless fun.

[surfdude12]

It's A Wonderful Life
Film: 5/5
-so much more than just a Christmas film
-themes go WAY beyond Christmas, etc and go to fear and gratitude. When you're in the former (fear) and always worried that you're going to LOSE something (money/freedom/etc), not only may your thinking be WRONG (usually it is), but you are forgetting that the glass is 99% full, not 1% empty (gratitude), and that you're worried about losing the 1%, not keeping the 99%.

Nixon
Film: 4/5
-Not the biggest Oliver Stone fan, but I like this film for some reason.
-Hopkins performance was terrific, considering the glaring lack of visual similarity to Nixon. This says a lot that he could make up the visual dissimilarity with similar behavioral actions and voice
-As usual, we're getting a mixed fact/fiction Stone analysis, but I don't care. I'm just watching for entertainment, as with JFK. I'll go elsewhere for my Nixon citations, if I ever write a Nixon paper.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

It's A Wonderful Life
Film: 5/5
-so much more than just a Christmas film
-themes go WAY beyond Christmas, etc and go to fear and gratitude. When you're in the former (fear) and always worried that you're going to LOSE something (money/freedom/etc), not only may your thinking be WRONG (usually it is), but you are forgetting that the glass is 99% full, not 1% empty (gratitude), and that you're worried about losing the 1%, not keeping the 99%.

Saw this on Christmas Eve, and I agree with your view on the themes completely.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Diesel

(See what I did there with the smiley?)

[Show spoiler]

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]

[jhiggy23]

Sarah's Key (blu)

PQ: 5 (out of 5)---phenomenal

AQ: 4.5 (out of 5)

Film: 4 stars (out of 4)


I didn't think anything could bump Midnight in Paris out of my second spot in this year's "best" rankings, but this does (even if Paris is my favorite film of the year). People complain that there are too many Holocaust or World War II movies, but the reason there's so many is that there's an endless amount of stories to tell. I agree that the modern scenes in this film are nowhere near as good as the past scenes, but Stewart is terrific as always and so is Quinn. I also wondered about one plot development in the modern scenes and questioned why it was needed, but I now think it's essential

[Show spoiler]Stewart's pregnancy and the potential abortion--it's in there to show the sanctity of life, as a foil to the Holocaust.

The direction in this film is also nothing short of amazing. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

[surfdude12]

The Big Lebowski

Film: 5/5
-epic comedy
-plot hole? [spoiler] he finds Larry's homework in
his car, yet Larry never stole his car? [/spolier]
-character ranking: 1. Walter, 2. Dude, 3. Donny
-quote ranking: 1. "8 year olds, dude"
2. "shut the f$&k up Donny" , 3. "I'm gonna go find
A cash machine" , 4. "they're a bunch of fu$&king amateurs"

PQ/AQ: 4/5

This review was typed on an iPhone. I know.
I'm hip.

[Romulus]

Long time no see folks! Hope everything has been going well.


The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011, David Fincher)

First and foremost I am a big fan of the original Swedish film. When I found out that Fincher would be making a remake so soon after the original, I had doubts. Sure, Fincher is one of the better directors to make a remake but that doesn't mean it should be done.

My overall feelings about Fincher's film is that it really shouldn't have been made. For people who haven't seen the original Swedish film (for whatever reasons) then it is definitely worth viewing. For anyone who has seen the original I can't think of many reasons to see this one. The locations used between the two films are the exact same, just with new actors and characters. The one plus side is that Rooney Mara does a fantastic job of playing Lisbeth Salander. I can't figure which actress played the part better, but I think it's important to note that both actresses played the part slightly differently that fit to their strengths. The soundtrack for the film was improved over the Swedish, albeit a little too similar to The Social Network for my liking. Overall, I feel that you can't go wrong with watching this film. It's certainly not bad, and there are little variations in the plot between the two films... but for me it was just more of the same.

I rated the original Swedish version a 4/5. If I had to rate the American version, I would probably go with a 3/5 purely out of the fact that I feel it was unnecessary to remake it in the first place.